Posted on 03/02/2016 8:56:56 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Marco Rubio has emerged from 15 Republican presidential primary contests with a single measly victory. It's about time for the establishment to find a new savior.
Lindsey Graham has some ideas about that.
After stating the obvious -- there's no path for Rubio short of dirty deeds if he can't win his home state of Florida on March 15 -- Graham let it rip on CBS last night. "You know, Ted Cruz is not my favorite by any means. I don't wish him ill [...] but we may be in a position where we have to rally around Ted Cruz as the only way to stop Donald Trump, and I'm not so sure that would work."
Graham is not just testing the waters for a Cruz endorsement in his capacity as one of the beltway media's most beloved and entertaining regulars. He's doing it as a top-shelf surrogate for Jeb Bush -- the candidate he endorsed after ending his own presidential campaign -- and an unrepentant neoconservative. Even his hypothetical rush to Cruz's side is a body blow to Rubio.
No candidate in the race offers as clear and comprehensible a break from the Bush legacy on international relations as Ted Cruz. To be sure, Trump has praised Putin and raged -- quite effectively -- against the President Bush who blew big bucks on near-disaster in Iraq. On the other hand, Trump has completely ignored his one concrete campaign promise to release a list of foreign policy advisors. Who knows -- Trump included -- what he has in store? Instead, it is Ted Cruz on the Senate Armed Services Committee, with Graham and that other influential interventionist, John McCain, and Ted Cruz whose dose of foreign policy realism best embodies a studious evolution forward from Ronald Reagan's view of the best offense being a good defense.
If the likes of Graham, McCain, and Jeb Bush himself believe they can or must make room for Cruz on foreign affairs, that bespeaks a colossal evacuation of the established party's confidence in Rubio's fight against Trump. Rubio not only embodies the establishment's idea of the perfect Republican voter. He has also swallowed -- hook, line, and sinker -- an insecure version of neoconservatism, somehow convinced it is the baseline for mainstream Republican candidates. The neocon Jedi Council may have good reason to believe that Rubio is neither up to the task of securing the nomination nor of pursuing a rigorous and judicious brand of statecraft, even with help.
The world has been waiting for what I've referred to in the past as a defensive or austere application of fundamental neoconservative principles (freedom good, evildoers bad, politics ugly). Rubio's frantic phraseology -- nothing matters if we're not safe! -- doesn't rise to that challenge. Cruz, by contrast, could find a way to patiently restore the GOP's identity as the sane party on international affairs while steering Republicans away from the third Bush term at home that Rubio offers.
Without question, that's a far cry from Jeb's ideal. But shivving Rubio is still at the top of Bushworld's to-do list, and if they can achieve it to Trump's disadvantage without nuking the party, they can be heroes. Cruz peels away more Trump people than Rubio, after all. And though I wound up as wrong as anyone in suggesting early on that Cruz had the best path to the nomination, I was right to note he was poised to ace out Rubio big time.
That dynamic is still at work. Cruz's fundamental strength in this weirdest of seasons pierced the veil of confusion last night. He's the best bet to beat Trump, same as he ever was. And for Marco Rubio, that's a heavy albatross to drag home to Florida on primary night.
And for Marco Rubio, that’s a heavy albatross to drag home to Florida on primary night.
Bwa Ha, Ha!!!
That right there is funny...
No, they will not. They’ll line behind someone like Romney.
That that have rallied against Trump, but are thinking of Rallying around Ted Cruz, tells you all you need to know about Teddy.
No, they’d rather have Hillary. The Ruling Class could care less whether there’s a R or a D after the name, as long as the power structure and money flow remains intact. The one thing Cruz has done in his short time in DC is prove that he he will not “go along to get along”, thus he’s the next-to-last person they’d want in the WH.
Is this the same Linda Graham who said that if Cruz were murdered on the Senate floor, nobody would have a care about it?
A few weeks ago I recall lots of ppl were saying that between Cruz and Trump, Establishment would pick Trump because Trump was malleable, while Cruz was a ideologue who refuse to compromise
When Lindsey Graham wants to be your friend....
Depends on what Romney does ...but most likely yes, Cruz is the establishment’s “anti-establishment” candidate
We’re way past the Silly Season and have gone Ludicrous
The problem is, the Establishment does not want to negotiate its power, it believes it is above the system and they are the power brokers, not the other way around.
Negotiating with Trump is proving they are powerless, they don’t want that.
There was a somewhat moderate-sounding analyst on O’Reilly two years ago who shocked O’Reilly by saying he thought Ted Cruz might become the only true consensus candidate in the primary who appeals to all the party’s wings enough to become the nominee. It was obvious to me then that that was true. It’s funny how the establishment wing might be being dragged kicking and screaming to the same conclusion at this very late hour.
The party HAS to unite behind the nominee or they can’t and won’t win in November. All wings of the party have to actively support the candidate with money and actions or they cannot win.
There is no path to defeating Trump besides Cruz. If Cruz dropped out, enough of his voters would go to Trump to get Trump over the 50% he needs to steamroll his way to the nomination. Those Cruz voters will find a new anti-establishment choice in Trump, even though Trump’s brand of anti-establishment is often from the Michael Moore/Bernie Sanders corner.
Cruz can truly appeal to the social conservative, national security conservative and economic conservative wings. Although any one wing who is moderate on the other wing might not like him 100%, they’ll like him enough to support him and unify around him.
Letting the establishment pick the V.P. would be a reasonable compromise to make for full support, just as putting Bush on Reagan’s ticket was.
Probably. Cruz would welcome it.
If there was any doubt of the feckless incompetence of the GOP this should put it to rest. To “save” the election they have to suck up to Cruz. LOL!
It’s no wonder why the incompetent and villainous RATs keep winning. These worthless GOP boobs are the opposition. ROTFL!
I have no idea why CBS would interview Graham. He is the least important Republican senator, although the establishment loves him. I loved it she Trump said he I “the stupidest person” he’s ever seen. And South Carolinians backed that up by giving Trump the primary win. So even I his own state sorry looking Graham can’t respect the voters. CBS is lame and so is that liberal late night fool they have.
If they rally behind Cruz it will only be to take his delegates away at the convention because he has eligibility issues.
Cruz has no path to victory except a brokered convention.
We saw Dole, Lott and Peter King come out and say that they backed Trump over Cruz explicitly even though they didn’t like either of them. Graham seems to be the first to be saying the opposite. I wonder what Romney’s opinion is.
I though Grahams eyes looked a bit blood shot on CBS last night
1) CBS interviewed him because he said what they wanted to hear.
2) And/or they interviewed several. Linda Graham is the only one they ran. See #1.
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